Delaying interaction with points of interest discovered based on directional device information

ABSTRACT

With the addition of directional information in the environment, a variety of service(s) can be provided on top of user identification or interaction with specific object(s) of interest by pointing at the objects. Sometimes either the device user and/or the publishers of content associated with a POI with which a user interacts will wish to delay the interaction with the POI and associated content. For such scenarios, items discovered through direction-based location services can be designated for later interaction, e.g., according to pre-defined criteria that define explicitly or implicitly when the later interaction will occur. Device users are thus provided with relevant content about endpoints of direction based services at relevant times, which may not be the time of initial contact with the POI.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser.No. 61/074,415, filed on Jun. 20, 2008, entitled “MOBILE COMPUTINGSERVICES BASED ON DEVICES WITH DYNAMIC DIRECTION INFORMATION,” and U.S.Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/074,590, filed on Jun. 20, 2008,entitled “MOBILE COMPUTING SERVICES BASED ON DEVICES WITH DYNAMICDIRECTION INFORMATION,” the entirety of which are incorporated herein byreference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The subject disclosure relates to the provision of direction-basedservices based on direction information and/or other information, suchas location information, of a device and to designating points ofinterest discovered with the device for later interaction.

BACKGROUND

By way of background concerning some conventional systems, mobiledevices, such as portable laptops, PDAs, mobile phones, navigationdevices, and the like have been equipped with location based services,such as global positioning system (GPS) systems, WiFi, cell towertriangulation, etc. that can determine and record a position of mobiledevices. For instance, GPS systems use triangulation of signals receivedfrom various satellites placed in orbit around Earth to determine deviceposition. A variety of map-based services have emerged from theinclusion of such location based systems that help users of thesedevices to be found on a map and to facilitate point to point navigationin real-time and search for locations near a point on a map.

However, such navigation and search scenarios are currently limited todisplaying relatively static information about endpoints and navigationroutes. While some of these devices with location based navigation orsearch capabilities allow update of the bulk data representing endpointinformation via a network, e.g., when connected to a networked portablecomputer (PC) or laptop, such data again becomes fixed in time.Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a set of richerexperiences for users than conventional experiences predicated onlocation and conventional processing of static bulk data representingpotential endpoints of interest.

Another problem is that a user on the go being informed of nearby pointsof interest (POIs) based on location information may not always have thetime to interact with the POIs, or to sift through irrelevantinformation such as POIs away from which a user is moving. Moreover,even if the user does have time, the device may not have thecapabilities to support a full user experience to engage the user with,e.g., due to limited hardware, such as a limited keypad, screen space,etc.

The above-described deficiencies of today's location based systems anddevices are merely intended to provide an overview of some of theproblems of conventional systems, and are not intended to be exhaustive.Other problems with the state of the art and corresponding benefits ofsome of the various non-limiting embodiments may become further apparentupon review of the following detailed description.

SUMMARY

A simplified summary is provided herein to help enable a basic orgeneral understanding of various aspects of exemplary, non-limitingembodiments that follow in the more detailed description and theaccompanying drawings. This summary is not intended, however, as anextensive or exhaustive overview. Instead, the sole purpose of thissummary is to present some concepts related to some exemplarynon-limiting embodiments in a simplified form as a prelude to the moredetailed description of the various embodiments that follow.

Direction based pointing services are provided for portable devices ormobile endpoints. Mobile endpoints can include a positional componentfor receiving positional information as a function of a location of theportable electronic device, a directional component that outputsdirection information as a function of an orientation of the portableelectronic device and a processing engine that processes the positionalinformation and the direction information to determine a subset ofpoints of interest relative to the portable electronic device as afunction of the positional information and/or the direction information.

Devices or endpoints can include compass(es), e.g., magnetic orgyroscopic, to determine a direction and location based systems fordetermining location, e.g., GPS. To supplement the positionalinformation and/or the direction information, devices or endpoints canalso include component(s) for determining speed and/or accelerationinformation for processing by the engine, e.g., to aid in thedetermination of gestures made with the device.

With the addition of directional information in the environment, avariety of service(s) can be provided on top of user identification orinteraction with specific object(s) of interest. For instance, when auser points at a particular item at a particular location or place, thiscreates an opportunity for anyone having an interest in that particularitem to communicate with the user regarding that item or related itemsat a point in time when the user's focus is on the particular item. Usercontext for the interaction can also be taken into account to supplementthe provision of one or more interactive direction based services.

Moreover, sometimes either the device user and/or the publishers ofcontent associated with a POI with which a user interacts, will wish todelay the interaction with the POI and associated content. For suchscenarios, a variety of embodiments of a device provisioned fordirection-based location services interact with items discovered throughdirection-based location services and then designate such items forlater interaction, e.g., according to pre-defined criteria that defineexplicitly or implicitly when the later interaction will occur. Deviceusers are thus provided with relevant content about endpoints atrelevant times, which may not be the time of initial contact with thePOI.

These and other embodiments are described in more detail below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various non-limiting embodiments are further described with reference tothe accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a non-limiting architecture for mobiledevice delayed interaction scenarios in accordance with one or moreembodiments;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of another non-limiting architecture formobile device delayed interaction scenarios;

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of a non-limiting process for marking points ofinterest for later interaction;

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of a non-limiting process for designatingpoints of interest for later interaction;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a device illustrating a specific apparatusfor marking points of interest for delayed interaction in connectionwith direction based services;

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of a non-limiting process for designatingpoints of interest associated with a given place for later interaction;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of an exemplary device architecture for devicethat supports direction based services in accordance with one or moreembodiments;

FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary sequence for delayed interaction withPOIs at a location as a future advertising source;

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating a non-limiting implementation inwhich POIs are scanned based on encoding information;

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating market players in an overalladvertising model established based on interest in satisfying thedelayed interactions defined according to one or more embodimentsherein;

FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating a variety of ways in which userintent can be inferred or implied with respect to points of interest;

FIGS. 12 and 13 illustrate representative scenarios where a delayedinteraction facilitates a better timing for a transaction regarding agiven item of interest;

FIG. 14 is a block diagram illustrating the formation of motion vectorsfor use in connection with location based services;

FIG. 15, FIG. 16 and FIG. 17 illustrate aspects of algorithms fordetermining intersection endpoints with a pointing direction of adevice;

FIG. 18 represents a generic user interface for a mobile device forrepresenting points of interest based on pointing information;

FIG. 19 represents some exemplary, non-limiting alternatives for userinterfaces for representing point of interest information;

FIG. 20 represents some exemplary, non-limiting fields or user interfacewindows for displaying static and dynamic information about a givenpoint of interest;

FIG. 21 illustrates a sample overlay user interface for overlaying pointof interest information over a camera view of a mobile device;

FIG. 22 illustrates a process for predicting points of interest andaging out old points of interest in a region-based algorithm;

FIG. 23 illustrates a first process for a device upon receiving alocation and direction event;

FIG. 24 illustrates a second process for a device upon receiving alocation and direction event;

FIG. 25 is a block diagram representing an exemplary non-limitingnetworked environment in which embodiment(s) may be implemented; and

FIG. 26 is a block diagram representing an exemplary non-limitingcomputing system or operating environment in which aspects ofembodiment(s) may be implemented.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Overview

As discussed in the background, among other things, current locationservices systems and services, e.g., GPS, cell triangulation, P2Plocation service, such as Bluetooth, WiFi, etc., tend to be based on thelocation of the device only, and tend to provide static experiences thatare not tailored to a user because the data about endpoints of interestis relatively static, or fixed in time.

At least partly in consideration of these deficiencies of conventionallocation based services, various embodiments of a portable device areprovided that enable users to point a device in a direction, determine aset of system points of interest based on the direction pointed to bythe device, but then also defer interaction with a point of interest ofthe set to a point later in time, enabling a rich set of scenariosempowering users of direction-based services to receive relevantinformation at optimal times. Such direction-based services can beoffered as part of cloud services.

While each of the various embodiments herein are presentedindependently, e.g., as part of the sequence of respective Figures, onecan appreciate that a portable device and/or associated networkservices, as described, can incorporate or combine two or more of any ofthe embodiments. Given that each of the various embodiments improve theoverall services ecosystem in which users wish to operate, together asynergy results from combining different benefits. Accordingly, thecombination of different embodiments described below shall be consideredherein to represent a host of further alternate embodiments.

A non-limiting device provisioned for direction based services includesan engine for analyzing location information (e.g., GPS), directioninformation such as compass information (e.g., North, West, South,East), and optionally movement information (e.g., accelerometerinformation) to allow a platform for pointing to and thereby findingobjects of interest in a user's environment. A variety of scenarios arecontemplated based on a user finding information of interest aboutobjects of interests, such as restaurants, or other items around anindividual, or persons, places or events of interest nearby a user andtailoring information to that user (e.g., coupons, advertisements),however at a time later than the finding.

Accordingly, as part of various non-limiting embodiments and examplescenarios discussed in more detail below, effective ways are provided topoint in a direction, identify points of interest within scope of thepointed to direction, and to interact later with one or more of thepoints of interest by marking such POIs for later interaction inconnection with the provision of direction-based services.

In this regard, sometimes an interested party, e.g., the device userand/or the publishers of content associated with a POI, will wish todelay interaction with respect to the POI or supplement a presentinteraction with respect to the POI with a later interaction. This couldbe for a variety of explicit or implicit reasons, which can be input ordiscerned by the device based on context. For instance, a user withlimited screen space may wish to designate certain POIs for laterinteraction when the user can view information about the POI via apersonal computer (PC) and a larger display.

For a non-limiting example scenario to demonstrate a benefit of delayinginteraction, a user might pass a theater and want to go to one of theshows playing at the theater; however, the user might want to wait toreach home so she can ask her husband about availability and consult arich Web based interface associated with the POI that clearlyillustrates when the show is playing, how to buy tickets, etc. Thus, theuser, with a simple designation of the POI for later interaction alongwith an explicit or implicit time for the future interaction, can ensurethat the POI and its relevance to the user re-surface at a better time.This is in contrast to today where a user must remember to consult theweb site when the user reaches home, or the user must try to figure outsuch information with small writing rendered by limited touch screensand input, or with limited time or network connectivity.

Moreover, the content providers, i.e., those wishing to conveyinformation about the POI or information related to the POI, such asadvertisements also benefit from the later interaction because they toocan publish more content, and gather more information from the user, aswell as update their content prior to publishing and also take more timeto tailor the content to the user. Thus, both users and POI contentproviders alike benefit from the capability of users marking certainPOIs for later interaction.

In another embodiment, a user marks a POI for later interaction, andadditionally associates other information with the POI, e.g., in orderto form lists. For instance, a user can designate a restaurant they walkby at lunch and mark it with a category such as “restaurant that I wouldlike to try for dinner sometime.” Thus, when the user later returns tothe POI through some explicit or implicit route, the user has the chanceto view the list of restaurants to try for dinner. This also implicitlysets information about when the delayed interaction should occur basedon context.

Delayed interaction can be defined according to a variety of differentcriterion, e.g., explicit user choice, a pre-set amount of time (e.g.,10 hours later), or a pre-set time (e.g., 6 pm), etc. In this regard,any criterion or combination of criteria with respect to the POI, e.g.,“device comes within 2 blocks of the POI and the time is between 5 pmand 9 pm,” can be a set of criteria for notifying or reminding the userof the existence of the POI. Other information, such as device location,direction information, path information for walking to the POI can beprovided as input to the delay criterion as well. In the above example,a restaurant that is not open for lunch as a user walks by, but is openfor dinner, the restaurant finds a way to become relevant to the useragain at a later time through the process of delayed interaction.

At any time, a user can explicitly request to view any of the POIs withwhich the user interacted with in the past, and this view can be withthe same user device that discovered the POIs, e.g., notifications canbe received at a later time or this can be with an entirely differentform factor. For instance, the user can interact with the delayed set ofPOIs via a web site and associated storage and intelligence engine thataggregates POIs interacted with by the user, and keeps track of whichPOIs a user still wants to interact with, and under what delayedconditions.

Due to the nature of user desire for a POI to in effect “go away untillater,” for efficient operation, a user under certain circumstances willwant to quickly and easily “mark” a point of interest for later reviewso as to waste a minimal amount of current time and energy. Accordingly,in one embodiment, a user can carry out a unique gesture that marks POIsbased on direction and motion information (e.g., accelerometerinformation) available on the device, such that the user can easilyrepeat the unique gesture to mark other objects for later review. Suchunique gestures can be pre-defined for the device or pre-defined by theuser. For example, with a arm, elbow and/or wrist movement(s) defining agesture, the gesture can be used to simultaneously target and mark anobject or set of objects for later interaction, e.g., via the Web.

In one embodiment, a method for using a device provisioned for pointingbased services comprises receiving direction information associated witha pointed to direction of the device. Next, points of interest areidentified within an area defined by the direction according to anintersection test. Next, points of interest (POIs) can be marked by theuser to delay interaction with the marked POIs, e.g., to a later timewhen the user again interacts with the pointing based services. Thus, away to mark POIs for later interaction is provided, or a way that setsreminders or notifications regarding the POIs to interact with themlater.

For instance, one non-limiting example is a delayed typing scenario. Forinstance, as a user drives or walks by some real estate, a delayedtyping scenario may be appropriate since the user may not have the timeor enough of a keypad, or screen to learn about particular real estateof interest. For instance, typing on a mobile device might beinconvenient. Thus, via the service, a user can point at a point ofinterest, and with a gesture, or other input, mark the point of interestfor later action. Then, when the user reaches a PC, a reminder tointeract with the point of interest is present and the user can typewith a full keyboard.

Details of various other exemplary, non-limiting embodiments areprovided below.

Delayed Interaction with Endpoints of Direction Based Services

As mentioned, one or more embodiments described herein provide theability to identify endpoints with pointing interactions of directionbased location services, and delay interaction to a more convenientmoment or situation. For example, delayed editing of dynamic informationabout a point of interest is enabled by marking the location, and thenlater adding some information about the point of interest for use by thedirection based services. For instance, a user does not always have timeto manipulate or upload pictures, audio, automatic annotations, etc.with respect to a given point of interest at a time of creation. In suchcircumstances, a user can defer certain actions regarding a point ofinterest to a future time, e.g., create a reminder to the user as to whythey wanted to add a particular point of interest for delayedinteraction.

In this regard, leveraging digital compasses and location services toprovide direction and location information enables a next-generation ofdirection or pointer based location search services, scan services,discoverability services, etc., where the digital compass and GPS can beused to point at objects of interest, thus defining the entry point forone or more data transactions between the device and one or more thirdparty devices providing service(s) for the objects of interest at whichthe device is pointed. In the case of one or more embodiments describedherein, a user can defer the entry point for the one or more datatransactions to a later time. Using a digital compass, e.g., solidstate, magnetic, sun/moon based, etc. on a mobile endpoint facilitatespoint and upload scenarios, point and synchronize geographicalinformation to a Web service, cloud services or another endpoint.

As reflected in various embodiments, a device is provided that can honein on, interact with, or otherwise transact with, a specific object orspecific objects of interest by way of location and direction of thedevice, creating a new advertising model not previously known. As anexample, when a user interacts with a particular product on a shelf at aretail store in connection with a direction based service, this createsan opportunity for anyone having an interest in the particular productto engage the user, e.g., communicate some information to that user. Anycontext that can be discerned from the user's actions and interactionscan also be taken into account when acting on the opportunity. In thecase of introducing a delay with respect to the opportunity by deferringinteraction to a later time, a market is created for the futureopportunity represented by the delay information, and in aggregate, canbe predictive of early trends happening with products and services.

In this regard, users can interact with the endpoints in a host ofcontext sensitive ways to provide or update information associated withendpoints of interest, or to receive beneficial information orinstruments (e.g., coupons, offers, etc.) from entities associated withthe endpoints of interest, and any of such actions can be deferred to alater or better time with one or more embodiments. With locationservices, it can be determined that a user's device is physically insidean actual store, or near a window display of a store. Coupling that tothe user's interacting with an object of interest with directioninformation to enable direction-based services results in a newopportunity to take action based on the interaction with specific items.

In one embodiment, a portable electronic device is provided having apositional component for receiving position information as a function ofa location of the portable electronic device; and at least one processorconfigured to process the position information to determineidentifier(s) of points of interest associated with the location of theportable electronic device and based on intent information determinedfor the portable electronic device and the identifier(s), a set of delaycriterion are set for later interaction with the given points ofinterest represented by the identifier(s).

As mentioned, a device can include a directional component that outputsdirection information as a function of an orientation of the portableelectronic device and that facilitates determining an intent of thedevice. The directional component can optionally be a digital compassthat outputs the direction information. The device can determine asubset of items of interest relative to candidate items of interestwithin a 3-D space as a function of the positional information or thedirection information.

The device can request delayed content based on a selection of an itemof interest and the identifier(s). The request for the delayed contentcan be based on a scan of an encoding associated with an item ofinterest and the identifier(s). The request for delayed content can bebased on a keyword received as input by the device and theidentifier(s). The request for delayed content can be based on theintent information and the identifier(s) from at least one networkservice. The request for delayed content can also be automatic, or madeby other explicit or implicit request by the user.

At a later time, and potentially from a different device, a contentpackage can be received based on the request for the delayed contentfrom the network service. The device can optionally include a display orsound devices, such as speakers, to display or render some or all of thegraphical (e.g., text, icon, image data, video data, etc.) and/or audiocontent of the content package.

An initial interacting can include orientating the device toward someitem(s) of interest and determining direction information associatedwith the orientation of the device from which a subset of the item(s) ofinterest are identified. For instance, interacting can include pointingthe device in a direction defining a pointing line generally towardsitems of interest in the place(s) and determining a set of candidateitems of interest as a subset of items of interest that substantiallyintersect with the pointing line, and enabling the selection of one ormore items from the set of candidate items.

In one embodiment, a method for a device provisioned for direction basedservices comprises determining direction information associated with apointed to direction relative to a pre-defined orientation of the deviceand identifying POIs within an area defined as a function of the pointedto direction including determining which of a set of POIs intersect withthe area. Next, information corresponding to the POIs identified withinthe area is displayed, e.g., on a map or list, and POIs identifiedwithin the area can be designated for a delayed interaction at a latertime. In one embodiment, IDs associated with the designated POIs aretransmitted to a network service enabling information about thedesignated POIs to be exposed at the later time, e.g., from a differentform factor device.

The designation of POIs for later interaction can include explicit inputwith respect to the designated one or more POIs, such as one or more ofa gesture input, a keyword input, an audio input, a video camera inputor a touchscreen input with respect to the one or more POIs. Thedesignation of POIs for later interaction can include implicit inputwith respect to the designated one or more POIs including makinginferences about the delayed interaction at the later time based on acontext of present interaction.

The displaying of POI information can be made on a topographical mapvisually representing at least the area defined as a function of apointed to direction and graphical indications of the POIs can bedisplayed within the area at corresponding locations on thetopographical map view. The POIs can also be represented in a filteredlist view, e.g., filtered by restaurants in the area. The designating ofPOIs can include designating pre-defined criteria explicitly orimplicitly defining the delay of the delayed interaction. Thedesignating can include marking one or more POIs with touchscreen inputrelating to the one or more designated POIs, tagging the one or morePOIs with tag information defining the delayed interaction, or otherways to designate POIs for later interaction.

In another embodiment, a portable electronic device includes apositional component for receiving position information as a function ofa location of the portable electronic device and a directional componentthat outputs direction information as a function of an orientation ofthe portable electronic device. In addition, the device includes aprocessor configured to process the position information and thedirection information to determine identifiers or IDs of POIs within apre-defined geographical area of the device, interact with a selectedID, receive information about the POI corresponding to the selectedidentifier, and receive input regarding the selected ID defining afuture interaction.

Information about the selected ID defining the future interaction istransmitted along with the point of interest to a network service. Inone embodiment, a pointer structure is provided on the device thatvisually indicates the orientation of the portable electronic devicebased upon which the directional component outputs the directioninformation. For example, this could be a triangular structure thatcomes to a point to show a primary orientation of the device. This couldalso be indicated on the display of the device during provision ofdirection based services.

In one embodiment, the position information and the directioninformation determine a pointing line and a set of candidate points ofinterest are determined as a subset of points of interest thatsubstantially intersect with a function based on the pointing line. Anintersection test for determining subsets of points of interest caninclude defining an arc based on an angle with respect to a pointingline, defining a cone based on an angle with respect to the pointingline, or a line function defining a rectangular space oriented along thepointing line (2-D or 3-D depending on the application). A speaker canrender audio content if a condition upon which the future interaction ispredicated occurs. The directional component can be a digital compassthat outputs the direction information.

In another embodiment, a method comprises determining a place in which aportable device is located based on location information determined forthe device and identifying a subset of items of interest in the placeincluding determining an orientation of the device based on directioninformation of the device and determining the subset of items ofinterest in the place as a function of the orientation. Next, input withrespect to an item of the subset of items is received as well as inputdefining a delayed interaction with the item or place.

The delayed interaction can include receiving a notification when acharacteristic of the item meets a pre-defined condition, such as when aprice of the item meets a target price condition, thereby initiating thedelayed interaction. One way of identifying and designating an item fordelayed interaction can be with a scan input from scanning or imaging abar code associated with the item of interest.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating some concepts of one or moreembodiments for enabling delayed interaction with endpoints in adirection based location system. In this regard, two main things arespecified by the device participating in direction based services 120.First, the device provides POI information 100 from pointing with thedevice, i.e., the device identifies nearby POIs of particular interestto a user. This can be done explicitly 102 or implicitly 104. Also, thedevice associates criteria for delay 110 with the POIs. This too can bedone explicitly 112 or implicitly 114. Together, the POI information 100and delay information 110 are transmitted to direction based services120, which enables a whole host of scenarios 130 for later interactionwith the POIs 100 according to the criteria 110 being satisfied.

FIG. 2 is an exemplary non-limiting diagram of an architecture forachieving one or more embodiments described herein. At the device layerLayer1 for specifying delayed POI information, location information 200,direction information 202 and user intent information 204 can be inputto a Layer2 with various services 210, including web services 212, cloudservices 214, other data services 216, etc. Any of services 210 can haveinput to a set of brick and mortar store databases in Layer3, such asdata store(s) 220, 222, 224, etc. or set of online or electronicretailer databases in Layer4, such as data store(s) 230, 232, 234, etc.In this regard, user intent 204 coupled with a place of the device canbe utilized by one or more services 210 to retrieve and deliver customcontent 240 to the device based on the intent and place of the device,but at a later time according to a set of explicit or implicit criteria.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of a scenario where a user delays interactionwith a point of interest. At 300, a user points a pointer device in oneor more directions to define scope of endpoints. At 310, the userreceives an indication of one or more endpoints within scope in responsefrom a network service. At 320, the user marks endpoint(s) for laterinteraction or viewing. At 330, when the user reconnects to the service,e.g., from a PC, the user can receive reminders about marked endpoints.Other ways for triggering the interaction can be employed at 330 asdescribed elsewhere herein. The user can follow through withinteraction/viewing at 340, as desired.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary process fordesignating POIs for delayed interaction in connection with directionbased services. At 400, direction information is determined from apointed to direction relative to a pre-defined orientation. At 410, POIsare identified within an area defined as a function of the pointed todirection and it is determined which POIs intersect the area and arewithin scope of a given user experience. At 420, informationcorresponding to the POIs identified within the area is displayed, e.g.,on a map or in a list. At 430, the POI(s) identified within the area aredesignated for a delayed interaction at a later time. At 440, theinformation (e.g., ID information) associated with the POIs designatedfor later interaction is transmitted to a network service enabling laterinteractions.

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary non-limiting device 500 includingprocessor(s) 510 having a position engine or subsystem 520 fordetermining a location of the device 500 and a direction engine orsubsystem 530 for determining a direction or orientation of the device500. Then, by interacting with local application(s) 540 and/orservice(s) 570, content can be delivered to the device, which istailored to device intent and a place in which the device is present.The tailored content can be rendered by graphic subsystem or display/UI550 or audio subsystem 560. In one non-limiting embodiment, pointstructure 590 is included, e.g., a triangular piece that points along anorientation line 595 upon which directional calculations are based.Similarly, the orientation line 595 can be indicated by graphicssubsystem display/UI 550 with or without point structure 590. In thisregard, various embodiments herein enable delayed POI ID information 580to and from services 570 so that the delayed interactions can occur inthe future as assisted by services 570.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating a process for delaying interactionwith respect to a specific item within an identified place. At 600, aplace at which a portable device is located is determined based onlocation information of the device. At 610, an orientation of the deviceis determined based on direction information of the device and a subsetof items of interest are identified in the place as a function of theorientation. At 620, an item of the subset of items can be selected anda delayed interaction with the item (or place) is thereby enabled bydirection based services.

FIG. 7 illustrates a mobile computing device 100 according to anembodiment. In this regard, a set of services 760 that support delayedinteraction with points of interest can be built based on locationinformation 722 and direction information 732 collected by a mobiledevice, such as a phone. For instance, location information 722 can berecorded by a location subsystem 720 such as a GPS subsystemcommunicating with GPS satellites 740. Direction or pointing information732 can be collected by a direction subsystem 730, such as a compass,e.g., gyroscopic, magnetic, digital compass, etc. In addition,optionally, movement information 712 can be gathered by the device 700,e.g., via tower triangulation algorithms, and/or acceleration of thedevice 700 can be measured as well, e.g., with an accelerometer. Thecollective information 750 can be used to gain a sense of not only wherethe device 700 is located in relation to other potential points ofinterest tracked or known by the overall set of services 760, but alsowhat direction the user is pointing the device 700, so that the services760 can appreciate at whom or what the user is pointing the device 700.

In addition, a gesture subsystem 770 can optionally be included, whichcan be predicated on any one or more of the motion information 712,location information 722 or direction information 732. In this regard,not only can direction information 732 and location information 722 beused to define a set of unique gestures, but also motion information 712(such as speed and acceleration) can be used to define a moresophisticated set of gestures.

FIG. 7 thus illustrates a gesture subsystem 770 can optionally beincluded in a device 700. In this regard, one can appreciate that avariety of algorithms could be adopted for a gesture subsystem 770. Forinstance, a simple click-event when in the “pointing mode” for thedevice 700 can result in determining a set of points of interest for theuser. Another gesture on top of that pointing gesture with respect to aPOI can result in delaying interaction with that POI.

In this regard, a device can include a variety of spatial and mapcomponents and intelligence engines to determine intersections fordirectional arcs (or cones in 3-D). For instance, objects of interestcould be represented with exact boundaries, approximated with spheres,subshells (stores in a mall) of a greater shell (mall), hierarchicallyarranged, etc. Dynamically generated bounding boxes can also beimplemented work, i.e., any technique can be used to obtain boundaryinformation for use in an intersection algorithm. Thus, such boundariescan be implicitly or explicitly defined for the POIs.

Thus, a device can include an intersection component that interpretspointing information relative to a set of potential points of interest.The engine can perform such intersections knowing what the resolution ofthe measuring instruments are on the device, such as a given resolutionof a GPS system. Such techniques can include taking into account how fara user is from a plane of objects of interest, such as items on a shelfor wall, the size of the item of interest and how that is defined, aswell as the resolution of location instrumentation, such as the GPSsystem. The device can also optionally include an altimeter, or anyother device that gives altitude information, such as measuring radar orsonar bounce from the floor. The altitude information can supplementexisting location information for certain specialized services wherepoints of interest vary significantly at different altitudes. It isnoted that GPS itself has some information about altitude in itsencoding.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary non-limitingexchange between a device 800 and service 810. After start 802, anexample request for illustrative purpose is made by a device 800 to aservice 810, which includes data related to the location of the device,a given POI, and information about delaying the interaction. Forinstance, then, at 815, the service 810 gets all offers for the POI 815and/or at 820, gets the offers for the given location. At 825, orearlier, it is determined if the delay criteria have been met for thegiven POI, if so, the service 810 may get updated content associatedwith the location 830 along with an optional branded user interface at835. At 840, assuming the delay criteria have been met, an updatedcontent package is created and delivered to the device 800 at 845. Thedevice can undergo a check for the device at 850. The delayed or futureinteraction can take place at 855. Optionally, based on an advertisingmodel, the content providers or owners can be billed at 860.

FIG. 9 illustrates a general block diagram for an optional encodingtechnique for POI information. In this regard, various pieces of staticand dynamic information 902, 904, 906, 908, 910, etc. for a POI, whichare normally represented in UI 900 of the device, can also be encoded asan image or a bar code 920, or some other device readable compactencoding. Then, a user can scan an item of interest, and coupled withpresence in a physical store, a request 915 can be made to a service 940with a key representing the scanned item and information representingthe place, whereby the service 940 determines content 925 to return tothe device 900 based on the scanned item and the place. In addition,delay criterion 925 specify how to delay the interaction with thescanned item.

For instance, in an optional Quick Response (QR) support embodiment,decompression allows users to take pictures of a QR code and process itscontents where information has been encoded into a sticker/printout fordisplay outside of a business (e.g., in the form of a copyrighted URL).The code need not be a QR code, but could be any code that can be reador scanned or processed to determine its underlying content. Forinstance, with a visual representation, a picture can be taken andprocessed, or with the bar code, the device can scan it. RFidentification technology could also be used. For the avoidance ofdoubt, any encoded image format can be used, like a bar code, only oneexample of which is a QR code.

In effect, this enables a query for POI information via a QR code orother encoding. The user scans or images the code with a device 930, andthen transmits the code to the service, which translates the code intostatic and dynamically updated user information for display as a UI 900(or other user interface representation) so that the user can queryabout a POI merely by pointing at it. A URL for the POI can also beencoded in a format such as a QR code. In one non-limiting embodiment,the user can point the device at a QR code, and decode a given imagewith the QR code.

FIG. 10 illustrates at a high level, via a block diagram, a beneficialadvertising model enabled by a direction/location based services withdelayed interaction with endpoints as described in one or moreembodiments herein. For instance, scanned items 1000 for delay, orpointed to items 1000 for delay, or any other action taken with respectto items 1000 for delay can be sent as information 1005 to a service1010 that brokers interested third parties 1020 or 1030 who wish toadvertise given the place and particular items 1000. Accordingly, suchthird parties 1020 or 1030 (third parties may be misleading becausethird parties can include parties related to a retail establishmentwhere the device is currently located) can provide content as part ofinteractions 1025 or 1035 as part of a push or pull experience from theuser perspective. This opportunity to provide content in a delayedmanner enables services 1010 to notify 1015 parties 1020 interested inthe delayed interaction. This beneficial information provided to thirdparties 1020 or 1030 about potential delayed interactions withparticular POIs and places is therefore an opportunity to monetize thetransaction back to those who benefit from a resulting transaction oradvertising opportunity.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating a vast wealth of actions andinteractions that can help define intent/context 1120 to delay for agiven POI and location at which the device is present. For instance,text 1100 may be received by the device, a product search query 1102local to the store, bar code scan 1104, image scan 1106, explicitdesignation of a product (e.g., by pointing at a product, or taking animage of the product and performing image recognition) 1108, pricecompare request 1110, gesture input 1112, other interaction 1114, etc.can all be taken into account in discerning intent of the device at agiven place, along with direction information 1150. This combined withlocation information 1140 for discerning the place in which the deviceis in results in advertising opportunities 1130 for a whole host ofthird party advertising transactions for delayed delivery to the device.

FIG. 12 is a flow diagram of an exemplary non-limiting process for usinga device and services as described herein. At 1200, a place where aportable device is located is determined based on position information.At 1210, the device interacts with an item of interest in the place viadirection based services. At 1220, a desired characteristic for the itemof interest is indicated. At 1230, results regarding the item ofinterest are received later when the characteristic is satisfied. At1240, updated content about the item of interest can be provided.

FIG. 13 is a flow diagram of a non-limiting scenario for the process ofFIG. 12. At 1300, a place where the portable device is located isdetermined based on position information. At 1310, the device interactswith an item of interest in the place via direction based locationservices as described elsewhere herein. At 1320, the user identifies atarget price for the item of interest. At 1330, results respecting theitem of interest are delivered later when the price drops, e.g., 2months later. At 1340, the content about the item of interest can beupdated on an ongoing basis or at the time of delivery of the delayedcontent (e.g., new or updated advertisement, recent user reviews, etc.).

Supplemental Context Regarding Pointing Devices, Architectures andServices

The following description contains supplemental context regardingpotential non-limiting pointing devices, architectures and associatedservices to further aid in understanding one or more of the aboveembodiments. Any one or more of any additional features described inthis section can be accommodated in any one or more of the embodimentsdescribed above with respect to delayed direction based services at aparticular location for given POI(s). While such combinations ofembodiments or features are possible, for the avoidance of doubt, noembodiments set forth in the subject disclosure should be consideredlimiting on any other embodiments described herein.

As mentioned, a broad range of scenarios can be enabled by a device thatcan take location and direction information about the device and build aservice on top of that information. For example, by using anaccelerometer in coordination with an on board digital compass, anapplication running on a mobile device updates what each endpoint is“looking at” or pointed towards, attempting hit detection on potentialpoints of interest to either produce real-time information for thedevice or to allow the user to select a range, or using the GPS, alocation on a map, and set information such as “Starbucks—10% offcappuccinos today” or “The Alamo—site of . . . ” for others to discover.One or more accelerometers can also be used to perform the function ofdetermining direction information for each endpoint as well. Asdescribed herein, these techniques can become more granular toparticular items within a Starbucks, such as “blueberry cheesecake” ondisplay in the counter, enabling a new type of sale opportunity.

Accordingly, a general device for accomplishing this includes aprocessing engine to resolve a line of sight vector sent from a mobileendpoint and a system to aggregate that data as a platform, enabling ahost of new scenarios predicated on the pointing information known forthe device. The act of pointing with a device, such as the user's mobilephone, thus becomes a powerful vehicle for users to discover andinteract with points of interest around the individual in a way that istailored for the individual. Synchronization of data can also beperformed to facilitate roaming and sharing of POV data and contactsamong different users of the same service.

In a variety of embodiments described herein, 2-dimensional (2D),3-dimensional (3D) or N-dimensional directional-based search, discovery,and interactivity services are enabled for endpoints in the system ofpotential interest to the user.

The pointing information and corresponding algorithms depend upon theassets available in a device for producing the pointing or directionalinformation. The pointing information, however produced according to anunderlying set of measurement components, and interpreted by aprocessing engine, can be one or more vectors. A vector or set ofvectors can have a “width” or “arc” associated with the vector for anymargin of error associated with the pointing of the device. A panningangle can be defined by a user with at least two pointing actions toencompass a set of points of interest, e.g., those that span a certainangle defined by a panning gesture by the user.

In one non-limiting embodiment, a portable electronic device includes apositional component for receiving positional information as a functionof a location of the portable electronic device, a directional componentthat outputs direction information as a function of an orientation ofthe portable electronic device and a location based engine thatprocesses the positional information and the direction information todetermine a subset of points of interest relative to the portableelectronic device as a function of at least the positional informationand the direction information.

The positional component can be a positional GPS component for receivingGPS data as the positional information. The directional component can bea magnetic compass and/or a gyroscopic compass that outputs thedirection information. The device can include acceleration component(s),such as accelerometer(s), that outputs acceleration informationassociated with movement of the portable electronic device. The use of aseparate sensor can also be used to further compensate for tilt andaltitude adjustment calculations.

In one embodiment, the device includes a cache memory for dynamicallystoring a subset of endpoints of interest that are relevant to theportable electronic device and at least one interface to a networkservice for transmitting the positional information and the directioninformation to the network service. In return, based on real-timechanges to the positional information and direction/pointinginformation, the device dynamically receives in the cache memory anupdated subset of endpoints that are potentially relevant to theportable electronic device.

For instance, the subset of endpoints can be updated as a function ofendpoints of interest within a pre-defined distance substantially alonga vector defined by the orientation of the portable electronic device.Alternatively or in addition, the subset of endpoints can be updated asa function of endpoints of interest relevant to a current context of theportable electronic device. In this regard, the device can include a setof Representational State Transfer (REST)-based application programminginterfaces (APIs), or other stateless set of APIs, so that the devicecan communicate with the service over different networks, e.g., Wi-Fi, aGPRS network, etc. or communicate with other users of the service, e.g.,Bluetooth. For the avoidance of doubt, the embodiments are in no waylimited to a REST based implementation, but rather any other state orstateful protocol could be used to obtain information from the serviceto the devices. For the avoidance of doubt, implementations of directionbased services and devices are not dependent on REST basedimplementations, but could also be performed with REST, simple objectaccess protocol (SOAP), really simple syndication (RSS), etc.

The directional component outputs direction information includingcompass information based on calibrated and compensatedheading/directionality information. The directional component can alsoinclude direction information indicating upward or downward tiltinformation associated with a current upward or downward tilt of theportable electronic device, so that the services can detect when a useris pointing upwards or downwards with the device in addition to acertain direction. The height of the vectors itself can also be takeninto account to distinguish between an event of pointing with a devicefrom the top of a building (likely pointing to other buildings, bridges,landmarks, etc.) and the same event from the bottom of the building(likely pointing to a shop at ground level), or towards a ceiling orfloor to differentiate among shelves in a supermarket. A 3-axis magneticfield sensor can also be used to implement a compass to obtain tiltreadings.

Secondary sensors, such as altimeters or pressure readers, can also beincluded in a mobile device and used to detect a height of the device,e.g., what floor a device is on in a parking lot or floor of adepartment store (changing the associated map/floorplan data). Where adevice includes a compass with a planar view of the world (e.g., 2-axiscompass), the inclusion of one or more accelerometers in the device canbe used to supplement the motion vector measured for a device as avirtual third component of the motion vector, e.g., to providemeasurements regarding a third degree of freedom. This option may bedeployed where the provision of a 3-axis compass is too expensive, orotherwise unavailable. In this regard, any type of compass, orcombination of compasses can be used according to the sensitivity ordegree of directional information for a given application or set ofservices. Thus, electromagnetic compass(es), digital compass(es), SW,etc., or any combination of compass(es) are all contemplated for adevice in order to interact with POIs. Moreover, any one or more of thecompass(es) can include support for 1, 2 or 3 axes.

In this respect, a gesturing component can also be included in thedevice to determine a current gesture of a user of the portableelectronic device from a set of pre-defined gestures. For example,gestures can include zoom in, zoom out, panning to define an arc, all tohelp filter over potential subsets of points of interest for the user.

For instance, web services can effectively resolve vector coordinatessent from mobile endpoints into <x,y,z> or other coordinates usinglocation data, such as GPS data, as well as configurable, synchronizedPOV information similar to that found in a GPS system in an automobile.In this regard, any of the embodiments can be applied similarly in anymotor vehicle device. One non-limiting use is also facilitation ofendpoint discovery for synchronization of data of interest to or fromthe user from or to the endpoint.

Among other algorithms for interpreting position/motion/directioninformation, as shown in FIG. 14, a device 1400 employing the directionbased location based services 1402 as described herein in a variety ofembodiments herein include a way to discern between near objects, suchas POI 1414 and far objects, such as POI 1416. Depending on the contextof usage, the time, the user's past, the device state, the speed of thedevice, the nature of the POIs, etc., the service can determine ageneral distance associated with a motion vector. Thus, a motion vector1406 will implicate POI 1414, but not POI 1416, and the opposite wouldbe true for motion vector 1408.

In addition, a device 1400 includes an algorithm for discerning itemssubstantially along a direction at which the device is pointing, andthose not substantially along a direction at which the device ispointing. In this respect, while motion vector 1404 might implicate POI1412, without a specific panning gesture that encompassed moredirections/vectors, POIs 1414 and 1416 would likely not be within thescope of points of interest defined by motion vector 1404. The distanceor reach of a vector can also be tuned by a user, e.g., via a slidercontrol or other control, to quickly expand or contract the scope ofendpoints encompassed by a given “pointing” interaction with the device.

In one non-limiting embodiment, the determination of at what or whom theuser is pointing is performed by calculating an absolute “Look” vector,within a suitable margin of error, by a reading from an accelerometer'stilt and a reading from the magnetic compass. Then, an intersection ofendpoints determines an initial scope, which can be further refineddepending on the particular service employed, i.e., any additionalfilter. For instance, for an apartment search service, endpoints fallingwithin the look vector that are not apartments ready for lease, can bepre-filtered.

In addition to the look vector determination, the engine can alsocompensate for, or begin the look vector, where the user is by establishpositioning (˜15 feet) through an A-GPS stack (or other location basedor GPS subsystem including those with assistance strategies) and alsocompensate for any significant movement/acceleration of the device,where such information is available.

As mentioned, in another aspect, a device can include a client sidecache of potentially relevant points of interest, which, based on theuser's movement history can be dynamically updated. The context, such asgeography, speed, etc. of the user can be factored in when updating. Forinstance, if a user's velocity is 2 miles an hour, the user may bewalking and interested in updates at a city block by city block level,or at a lower level granularity if they are walking in the countryside.Similarly, if a user is moving on a highway at 60 miles per hour, theblock-by-block updates of information are no longer desirable, butrather a granularity can be provided and predictively cached on thedevice that makes sense for the speed of the vehicle.

In an automobile context, the location becomes the road on which theautomobile is travelling, and the particular items are the places andthings that are passed on the roadside much like products in aparticular retail store on a shelf or in a display. The pointing basedservices thus creates a virtual “billboard” opportunity for items ofinterest generally along a user's automobile path. Proximity to locationcan lead to an impulse buy, e.g., a user might stop by a museum they arepassing and pointing at with their device, if offered a discount onadmission.

In various alternative embodiments, gyroscopic or magnetic compasses canprovide directional information. A REST based architecture enables datacommunications to occur over different networks, such as Wi-Fi and GPRSarchitectures. REST based APIs can be used, though any statelessmessaging can be used that does not require a long keep alive forcommunicated data/messages. This way, since networks can go down withGPRS antennae, seamless switching can occur to Wi-Fi or Bluetoothnetworks to continue according to the pointing based services enabled bythe embodiments described herein.

A device as provided herein according to one or more embodiments caninclude a file system to interact with a local cache, store updates forsynchronization to the service, exchange information by Bluetooth withother users of the service, etc. Accordingly, operating from a localcache, at least the data in the local cache is still relevant at a timeof disconnection, and thus, the user can still interact with the data.Finally, the device can synchronize according to any updates made at atime of re-connection to a network, or to another device that has moreup to date GPS data, POI data, etc. In this regard, a switchingarchitecture can be adopted for the device to perform a quick transitionfrom connectivity from one networked system (e.g., cell phone towers) toanother computer network (e.g., Wi-Fi) to a local network (e.g., meshnetwork of Bluetooth connected devices).

With respect to user input, a set of soft keys, touch keys, etc. can beprovided to facilitate in the directional-based pointing servicesprovided herein. A device can include a windowing stack in order tooverlay different windows, or provide different windows of informationregarding a point of interest (e.g., hours and phone number windowversus interactive customer feedback window). Audio can be rendered orhandled as input by the device. For instance, voice input can be handledby the service to explicitly point without the need for a physicalmovement of the device. For instance, a user could say into a device“what is this product right in front of me? No, not that one, the oneabove it” and have the device transmit current direction/movementinformation to a service, which in turn intelligently, or iteratively,determines what particular item of interest the user is pointing at, andreturns a host of relevant information about the item.

One non-limiting way for determining a set of points of interest isillustrated in FIG. 15. In FIG. 15, a device 1500 is pointed (e.g.,point and click) in a direction D1, which according to the device orservice parameters, implicitly defines an area within arc 1510 anddistance 1520 that encompasses POI 1530, but does not encompass POI1532. Such an algorithm will also need to determine any edge case POIs,i.e., whether POIs such as POI 1534 are within the scope of pointing indirection D1, where the POI only partially falls within the area definedby arc 1510 and distance 1520.

Other gestures that can be of interest in for a gesturing subsysteminclude recognizing a user's gesture for zoom in or zoom out. Zoomin/zoom out can be done in terms of distance like FIG. 16. In FIG. 16, adevice 1600 pointed in direction D1 may include zoomed in view whichincludes points of interest within distance 1620 and arc 1610, or amedium zoomed view representing points of interest between distance 1620and 1622, or a zoomed out view representing points of interest beyonddistance 1622. These zoom zones correspond to POIs 1630, 1632 and 1634,respectively. More or less zones can be considered depending upon avariety of factors, the service, user preference, etc.

For another non-limiting example, with location information anddirection information, a user can input a first direction via a click,and then a second direction after moving the device via a second click,which in effect defines an arc 1710 for objects of interest in thesystem as illustrated in FIG. 17. For instance, via first pointing actby the user at time t1 in direction D1 and a second pointing act at timet2 by the user in direction D2, an arc 1710 is implicitly defined. Thearea of interest implicitly includes a search of points of object withina distance 1720, which can be zoomed in and out, or selected by theservice based on a known granularity of interest, selected by the user,etc. This can be accomplished with a variety of forms of input to definethe two directions. For instance, the first direction can be definedupon a click-and-hold button event, or other engage-and-hold userinterface element, and the second direction can be defined upon releaseof the button. Similarly, two consecutive clicks corresponding to thetwo different directions D1 and D2 can also be implemented.

Also, instead of focusing on real distance, zooming in or out could alsorepresent a change in terms of granularity, or size, or hierarchy ofobjects. For example, a first pointing gesture with the device mayresult in a shopping mall appearing, but with another gesture, a usercould carry out a recognizable gesture to gain or lose a level ofhierarchical granularity with the points of interest on display. Forinstance, after such gesture, the points of interest could be zoomed into the level of the stores at the shopping mall and what they arecurrently offering.

In addition, a variety of even richer behaviors and gestures can berecognized when acceleration of the device in various axes can bediscerned. Panning, arm extension/retraction, swirling of the device,backhand tennis swings, breaststroke arm action, golf swing motionscould all signify something unique in terms of the behavior of thepointing device, and this is to just name a few motions that could beimplemented in practice. Thus, any of the embodiments herein can definea set of gestures that serve to help the user interact with a set ofservices built on the pointing platform, to help users easily gaininformation about points of information in their environment.

Furthermore, with relatively accurate upward and downward tilt of thedevice, in addition to directional information such as calibrated andcompensated heading/directional information, other services can beenabled. Typically, if a device is ground level, the user is outside,and the device is “pointed” up towards the top of buildings, thegranularity of information about points of interest sought by the user(building level) is different than if the user was pointing at the firstfloor shops of the building (shops level), even where the same compassdirection is implicated. Similarly, where a user is at the top of alandmark such as the Empire State building, a downward tilt at thestreet level (street level granularity) would implicate informationabout different points of interest that if the user of the devicepointed with relatively no tilt at the Statue of Liberty(landmark/building level of granularity).

Also, when a device is moving in a car, it may appear that direction ischanging as the user maintains a pointing action on a single location,but the user is still pointing at the same thing due to displacement.Thus, thus time varying location can be factored into the mathematicsand engine of resolving at what the user is pointing with the device tocompensate for the user experience based upon which all items arerelative.

Accordingly, armed with the device's position, one or more web or cloudservices can analyze the vector information to determine at what or whomthe user is looking/pointing. The service can then provide additionalinformation such as ads, specials, updates, menus, happy hour choices,etc., depending on the endpoint selected, the context of the service,the location (urban or rural), the time (night or day), etc. As aresult, instead of a blank contextless Internet search, a form ofreal-time visual search for users in real 3-D environments is provided.

In one non-limiting embodiment, the direction based pointing servicesare implemented in connection with a pair of glasses, headband, etc.having a corresponding display means that acts in concert with theuser's looking to highlight or overlay features of interest around theuser.

As shown in FIG. 18, once a set of objects is determined from thepointing information according to a variety of contexts of a variety ofservices, a mobile device 1800 can display the objects viarepresentation 1802 according to a variety of user experiences tailoredto the service at issue. For instance, a virtual camera experience canbe provided, where POI graphics or information can be positionedrelative to one another to simulate an imaging experience. A variety ofother user interface experiences can be provided based on the pointingdirection as well.

For instance, a set of different choices are shown in FIG. 19. UI 1900and 1902 illustrate navigation of hierarchical POI information. Forinstance, level1 categories may include category1, category2, category3,category4 and category5, but if a user selects around the categorieswith a thumb-wheel, up-down control, or the like, and chooses one suchas category2. Then, subcategory1, subcategory2, subcategory3 andsubcategory4 are displayed as subcategories of category2. Then, if theuser selects, for instance, subcategory4, perhaps few enough POIs, suchas buildings 1900 and 1910 are found in the subcategory in order todisplay on a 2D map UI 1904 along the pointing direction, oralternatively as a 3D virtual map view 1906 along the pointingdirection.

Once a single POI is implicated or selected, then a full screen view forthe single POI can be displayed, such as the exemplary UI 2000. UI 2000can have one or more of any of the following representative areas. UI2000 can include a static POI image 2002 such as a trademark of a store,or a picture of a person. UI 2000 can also include other media, and astatic POI information portion 2004 for information that tends not tochange such as restaurant hours, menu, contact information, etc. Inaddition, UI 2000 can include an information section for dynamicinformation to be pushed to the user for the POI, e.g., coupons,advertisements, offers, sales, etc. In addition, a dynamic interactiveinformation are 2008 can be included where the user can fill out asurvey, provide feedback to the POI owner, request the POI to contactthe user, make a reservation, buy tickets, etc. UI 2000 also can includea representation of the direction information output by the compass forreference purposes. Further, UI 2000 can include other third partystatic or dynamic content in area 2012.

When things change from the perspective of either the service or theclient, a synchronization process can bring either the client orservice, respectively, up to date. In this way, an ecosystem is enabledwhere a user can point at an object or point of interest, gaininformation about it that is likely to be relevant to the user, interactwith the information concerning the point of interest, and add value toservices ecosystem where the user interacts. The system thusadvantageously supports both static and dynamic content.

Other user interfaces can be considered such as left-right, or up-downarrangements for navigating categories or a special set of soft-keys canbe adaptively provided.

Where a device includes a camera, in one embodiment shown in FIG. 21, arepresentative non-limiting overlay UI 2100 is shown having 3 POIs POI1,POI2 and POI3. The POIs are overlaid over actual image data being realtime viewed on the device via an LCD screen or like display. The actualimage data can be of products on a shelf or other display or exhibit ina store. Thus, as the user aims the camera around his or herenvironment, the lens becomes the pointer, and the POI information canbe overlaid intelligently for discovery of endpoints of interest.Moreover, a similar embodiment can be imagined even without a camera,such as a UI in which 3-D objects are virtually represented based onreal geometries known for the objects relative to the user.

Thus, the device UI can be implemented consistent with a camera, or avirtual camera, view for intuitive use of such devices. The pointermechanism of the device could also switch based on whether the user wascurrently in live view mode for the camera or not. Moreover, assumingsufficient processing power and storage, real time image processingcould discern an object of interest and based on image signatures,overlay POI information over such image in a similar manner to the aboveembodiments. In this regard, with the device provided herein, a varietyof gestures can be employed to zoom in zoom out, perform tilt detectionfor looking down or up, or panning across a field of view to obtain arange of POIs associated with the panning scope.

With respect to a representative set of user settings, a number ormaximum number of desired endpoints delivered as results can beconfigured. How to filter can also be configured, e.g., 5 most likely, 5closest, 5 closest to 100 feet away, 5 within category or sub-category,alphabetical order, etc. In each case, based on a pointing direction,implicitly a cone or other cross section across physical space isdefined as a scope of possible points of interest. In this regard, thewidth or deepness of this cone or cross section can be configurable bythe user to control the accuracy of the pointing, e.g., narrow or wideradius of points and how far out to search.

To support processing of vector information and aggregating POIdatabases from third parties, a variety of storage techniques, such asrelational storage techniques can be used. For instance, Virtual Earthdata can be used for mapping and aggregation of POI data can occur fromthird parties such as Tele Atlas, NavTeq, etc. In this regard,businesses not in the POI database will want to be discovered and thus,the service provides a similar, but far superior from a spatialrelevance standpoint, Yellow Pages experiences where businesses willdesire to have their additional information, such as menus, pricesheets, coupons, pictures, virtual tours, etc. accessible via thesystem.

In addition, a synchronization platform or framework can keep theroaming caches in sync, thereby capturing what users are looking at andefficiently processing changes. Or, where a user goes offline, localchanges can be recorded, and when the user goes back online, such localchanges can be synchronized to the network or service store. Also, sincethe users are in effect pulling information they care about in the hereand in the now through the act of pointing with the device, the systemgenerates high cost per thousand impression (CPM) rates as compared toother forms of demographic targeting. Moreover, the system drivesimpulse buys, since the user may not be physically present in a store,but the user may be near the object, and by being nearby and pointing atthe store, information about a sale concerning the object can be sent tothe user.

As mentioned, different location subsystems, such as towertriangulation, GPS, A-GPS, E-GPS, etc. have different tolerances. Forinstance, with GPS, tolerances can be achieved to about 10 meters. WithA-GPS, tolerances can be tightened to about 12 feet. In turn, withE-GPS, tolerance may be a different error margin still. Compensating forthe different tolerances is part of the interpretation engine fordetermining intersection of a pointing vector and a set of points ofinterest. In addition, as shown in FIGS. 4-6, a distance to project outthe pointing vector can be explicit, configurable, contextual, etc.

In this regard, the various embodiments described herein can employ anyalgorithm for distinguishing among boundaries of the endpoints, such asboundary boxes, or rectangles, triangles, circles, etc. As a defaultradius, e.g., 150 feet could be selected, and such value can beconfigured or be context sensitive to the service provided. On-line realestate sites can be leveraged for existing POI information. Sincedifferent POI databases may track different information at differentgranularities, a way of normalizing the POI data according to oneconvention or standard can also be implemented so that the residentialreal estate location data of Zillow can be integrated with GPSinformation from Starbucks of all the Starbucks by country.

In addition, similar techniques can be implemented in a moving vehicleclient that includes GPS, compass, accelerometer, etc. By filteringbased on scenarios (e.g., I need gas), different subsets of points ofinterest (e.g., gas stations) can be determined for the user based notonly on distance, but actual time it may take to get to the point ofinterest. In this regard, while a gas station may be 100 yards to theright off the highway, the car may have already passed the correspondingexit, and thus more useful information to provide is what gas stationwill take the least amount of time to drive from a current locationbased on direction/location so as to provide predictive points ofinterest that are up ahead on the road, and not already aged points ofinterest that would require turning around from one's destination inorder to get to them.

For existing motor vehicle navigation devices, or other conventionalportable GPS navigation devices, where a device does not nativelyinclude directional means such as a compass, the device can have anextension slot that accommodates direction information from an externaldirectional device, such as a compass. Similarly, for laptops or otherportable electronic devices, such devices can be outfitted with a cardor board with a slot for a compass. While any of the services describedherein can make web service calls as part of the pointing and retrievalof endpoint process, as mentioned, one advantageous feature of a user'slocality in real space is that it is inherently more limited than ageneral Internet search for information. As a result, a limited amountof data can be predictively maintained on a user's device in cachememory and properly aged out as data becomes stale.

While there are a variety of implementations, and ways to sub-divideregions, whether overlapping or not, predictive caching and aging 2200is conceptually illustrated by FIG. 22 in which a user's presentlocation 2202 is discerned. At this point, the local cache stillincludes age out candidate location 2210, but as the velocity of theuser indicates the user will be at predicted locations 2204 and 2206 inthe future, these regions of POIs are downloaded to the mobile device.Accordingly, as the user travels to predicted location 2206, it startsto be clear that the user no longer needs the data from the age outcandidate location 2210, which can then be removed, or flagged forremoval when storage is challenged.

Accordingly, using the regional data cache, callbacks and an updatemechanism that is updated dynamically based on movement, new point ofinterest can be added by a service or by a user. Update is thusperformed continuously or substantially continuously based on updatedtravel, velocity, speed, etc. In this regard, a user can add a new pointof interest in the region, add info to a local cache, and then upload tothe zone. To appreciate the problem, the number of worldwide POIs ispractically limitless, however only a small number of POIs will berelevant to a user at a given time. Thus, predictively, a cube of datacan be taken to the device, the user can go offline such that when theuser reconnects, the device is intelligent to figure out what haschanged, been weighted, etc., so that the device can synchronize withthe network services and expose the user's changes for other people.

The predictive algorithms again depend on what the user is interested infinding, what service the user may be using, the context of the user,etc. They can also be based on velocity, direction, time, etc. Forinstance, if it is nighttime, assumptions based on demographics orpreferences may lead the device to return information about nightclubsor all night diners. Or, instead of giving directions as drivingdirections that calculate distances as absolute distances, i.e., as thecrow flies, a device can take road curves into account sinceinstantaneous pointing information on roads can be collected and handledby a corresponding service when giving driving directions. Or, asanother alternative, the direction one is heading on a road, such as ahighway with a concrete divider, is relevant to the directions that anavigation system should give. Where a U-turn is unavailable and userpasses an exit with a point of interest, for instance, directions shouldtake this into account and consider the heading of the vehicle.

Any device can include the embodiments described herein, including MP3players, such as a Zune device, GPS navigation devices, bike computers,sunglass/visor systems, motor vehicles, mobile phones, laptops, PDA,etc.

One way to obtain the service applications, assuming the underlyingmeasuring instruments to participate in the real-time gathering ofdirectional information, is to message to a service to obtain theapplication, e.g., by text messaging to service, or getting a clientdownload link. Another vehicle for enabling the service is to provide itnatively in the operating system or applications of a mobile devices.Since a hardware abstraction layer accommodates different methods forcollecting position, direction, acceleration information, the sameplatform can be used on any device regardless of the precise underlyinghardware.

In another aspect of any of the embodiments described herein, becausestateless messaging is employed, if communications drop with onenetwork, the device can begin further communicating via another network.For instance, a device has two channels, and a user gets on a bus, butno longer have GPRS or GPS activity. Nonetheless the user is able to getthe information the device needs from some other channel. Just because atower, or satellites are down, does not mean that the device cannotconnect through an alternative channel, e.g., the bus's GPS locationinformation via Bluetooth.

With respect to exemplary mobile client architectures, a representativedevice can include, as described variously herein, client Side Storagefor housing and providing fast access to cached POI data in the currentregion including associated dynamically updated or static information,such as annotations, coupons from businesses, etc. This includes usagedata tracking and storage. In addition, regional data can be a cachedsubset of the larger service data, always updated based on the region inwhich the client is roaming. For instance, POI data could include as anon-limiting example, the following information:

POI coordinates and data //{−70.26322, 43.65412, “STARBUCK'S”} Localizedannotations //Menu, prices, hours of operation, etc Coupons and ads//Classes of coupons (new user, returning, etc)

Support for different kinds of information (e.g., blob v structuredinformation (blob for storage and media; structured for tags,annotations, etc.)

A device can also include usage data and preferences to hold settings aswell as usage data such as coupons “activated,” waypoints, businessesencountered per day, other users encountered, etc. to be analyzed by thecloud services for business intelligence analysis and reporting.

A device can also include a continuous update mechanism, which is aservice that maintains the client's cached copy of a current regionupdated with the latest. Among other ways, this can be achieved with aping-to-pull model that pre-fetches and swaps out the client's cachedregion using travel direction and speed to facilitate roaming amongdifferent regions. This is effectively a paging mechanism for upcomingPOIs. This also includes sending a new or modified POI for the region(with annotations+coupons), sending a new or modified annotation for thePOIs (with coupons), or sending a new or modified coupon for the POI.

A device can also include a Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) havingcomponents responsible for abstracting the way the client communicateswith the measuring instruments, e.g., the GPS driver for positioning andLOS accuracy (e.g., open eGPS), magnetic compass for heading androtational information (e.g., gyroscopic), one or more accelerometersfor gestured input and tilt (achieves 3D positional algorithms, assuminggyroscopic compass).

As described earlier, a device can also include methods/interfaces tomake REST calls via GPRS/Wi-Fi and a file system and storage for storingand retrieving the application data and settings.

A device can also include user input and methods to map input to thevirtual keys. For instance, one non-limiting way to accomplish userinput is to have softkeys as follows, though it is to be understood agreat variety of user inputs can be used to achieve interaction with theuser interfaces of the pointing based services.

SK up/down: //Up and down on choices SK right, SK ok/confirm: //Choosean option or drill down/next SK left, SK cancel/back, //Go back to aprevious window, cancel Exit / Incoming Call events //Exit the app orminimize

In addition, a representative device can include a graphics andwindowing stack to render the client side UI, as well as an audio stackto play sounds/alerts.

As mentioned, such a device may also include spatial and mathcomputational components including a set of APIs to perform 3D collisiontesting between subdivided surfaces such as spherical shells (e.g., asimple hit testing model to adopt and boundary definitions for POIs),rotate points, and cull as appropriate from conic sections.

As described in various embodiments herein, FIGS. 23 and 24 illustratetwo processes for a device when location (e.g., GPS) and direction(e.g., compass) events occur. In FIG. 23, upon the occurrence of alocation or direction event, at 2300, it is determined whetherpredictive caching should be initiated for a next region to which a useris travelling. At 2310, if so, then the next region of data can bepre-fetched. At 2320, old regional data no longer of relevance can beaged out. At 2330, any usage data can be uploaded to the serviceframework for business intelligence, input to an advertisement engine,etc.

FIG. 24 represents another process for filtering potential POIs after apointing event. Upon the detection of a location and direction event, at2400, for POIs in the device's local cache, a group of POIs aredetermined that pass an intersection algorithm for the direction ofpointing of the device. At 2410, POIs in the group can be represented insome fashion on a UI, e.g., full view if only 1 POI, categorized view,2-D map view, 3-D perspective view, or user images if other users, etc.The possibilities for representation are limitless; the embodimentsdescribed herein are intuitive based on the general notion of pointingbased direction services.

At 2420, upon selection of a POI, static content is determined and anydynamic content is acquired via synchronization. When new data becomesavailable, it is downloaded to stay up to date. At 2430, POI informationis filtered further by user specific information (e.g., if it is theuser's first time at the store, returning customer, loyalty programmember, live baseball game offer for team clothing discounts, etc.). At2440, static and dynamic content that is up to date is rendered for thePOI. In addition, updates and/or interaction with POI information isallowed which can be synced back to the service.

Exemplary Networked and Distributed Environments

One of ordinary skill in the art can appreciate that the variousembodiments of methods and devices for pointing based services andrelated embodiments described herein can be implemented in connectionwith any computer or other client or server device, which can bedeployed as part of a computer network or in a distributed computingenvironment, and can be connected to any kind of data store. In thisregard, the various embodiments described herein can be implemented inany computer system or environment having any number of memory orstorage units, and any number of applications and processes occurringacross any number of storage units. This includes, but is not limitedto, an environment with server computers and client computers deployedin a network environment or a distributed computing environment, havingremote or local storage.

FIG. 25 provides a non-limiting schematic diagram of an exemplarynetworked or distributed computing environment. The distributedcomputing environment comprises computing objects 2510, 2512, etc. andcomputing objects or devices 2520, 2522, 2524, 2526, 2528, etc., whichmay include programs, methods, data stores, programmable logic, etc., asrepresented by applications 2530, 2532, 2534, 2536, 2538. It can beappreciated that objects 2510, 2512, etc. and computing objects ordevices 2520, 2522, 2524, 2526, 2528, etc. may comprise differentdevices, such as PDAs, audio/video devices, mobile phones, MP3 players,laptops, etc.

Each object 2510, 2512, etc. and computing objects or devices 2520,2522, 2524, 2526, 2528, etc. can communicate with one or more otherobjects 2510, 2512, etc. and computing objects or devices 2520, 2522,2524, 2526, 2528, etc. by way of the communications network 2540, eitherdirectly or indirectly. Even though illustrated as a single element inFIG. 25, network 2540 may comprise other computing objects and computingdevices that provide services to the system of FIG. 25, and/or mayrepresent multiple interconnected networks, which are not shown. Eachobject 2510, 2512, etc. or 2520, 2522, 2524, 2526, 2528, etc. can alsocontain an application, such as applications 2530, 2532, 2534, 2536,2538, that might make use of an API, or other object, software, firmwareand/or hardware, suitable for communication with or implementation ofthe delayed interaction model as provided in accordance with variousembodiments.

There are a variety of systems, components, and network configurationsthat support distributed computing environments. For example, computingsystems can be connected together by wired or wireless systems, by localnetworks or widely distributed networks. Currently, many networks arecoupled to the Internet, which provides an infrastructure for widelydistributed computing and encompasses many different networks, thoughany network infrastructure can be used for exemplary communications madeincident to the techniques as described in various embodiments.

Thus, a host of network topologies and network infrastructures, such asclient/server, peer-to-peer, hub and spoke, or hybrid architectures, canbe utilized. In a client/server architecture, particularly a networkedsystem, a client is usually a computer that accesses shared networkresources provided by another computer, e.g., a server. In theillustration of FIG. 25, as a non-limiting example, computers 2520,2522, 2524, 2526, 2528, etc. can be thought of as clients and computers2510, 2512, etc. can be thought of as servers where servers 2510, 2512,etc. provide data services, such as receiving data from client computers2520, 2522, 2524, 2526, 2528, etc., storing of data, processing of data,transmitting data to client computers 2520, 2522, 2524, 2526, 2528,etc., although any computer can be considered a client, a server, orboth, depending on the circumstances. Any of these computing devices maybe processing data, or requesting services or tasks that may implicatethe delayed interaction model and related techniques as described hereinfor one or more embodiments.

A server is typically a remote computer system accessible over a remoteor local network, such as the Internet or wireless networkinfrastructures. The client process may be active in a first computersystem, and the server process may be active in a second computersystem, communicating with one another over a communications medium,thus providing distributed functionality and allowing multiple clientsto take advantage of the information-gathering capabilities of theserver. Any software objects utilized pursuant to the direction basedservices can be provided standalone, or distributed across multiplecomputing devices or objects.

In a network environment in which the communications network/bus 2540 isthe Internet, for example, the servers 2510, 2512, etc. can be Webservers with which the clients 2520, 2522, 2524, 2526, 2528, etc.communicate via any of a number of known protocols, such as thehypertext transfer protocol (HTTP). Servers 2510, 2512, etc. may alsoserve as clients 2520, 2522, 2524, 2526, 2528, etc., as may becharacteristic of a distributed computing environment.

Exemplary Computing Device

As mentioned, various embodiments described herein apply to any devicewherein it may be desirable to perform pointing based services, anddelay interactions with points of interest. It should be understood,therefore, that handheld, portable and other computing devices andcomputing objects of all kinds are contemplated for use in connectionwith the various embodiments described herein, i.e., anywhere that adevice may request pointing based services. Accordingly, the belowgeneral purpose remote computer described below in FIG. 26 is but oneexample, and the embodiments of the subject disclosure may beimplemented with any client having network/bus interoperability andinteraction.

Although not required, any of the embodiments can partly be implementedvia an operating system, for use by a developer of services for a deviceor object, and/or included within application software that operates inconnection with the operable component(s). Software may be described inthe general context of computer-executable instructions, such as programmodules, being executed by one or more computers, such as clientworkstations, servers or other devices. Those skilled in the art willappreciate that network interactions may be practiced with a variety ofcomputer system configurations and protocols.

FIG. 26 thus illustrates an example of a suitable computing systemenvironment 2600 in which one or more of the embodiments may beimplemented, although as made clear above, the computing systemenvironment 2600 is only one example of a suitable computing environmentand is not intended to suggest any limitation as to the scope of use orfunctionality of any of the embodiments. Neither should the computingenvironment 2600 be interpreted as having any dependency or requirementrelating to any one or combination of components illustrated in theexemplary operating environment 2600.

With reference to FIG. 26, an exemplary remote device for implementingone or more embodiments herein can include a general purpose computingdevice in the form of a handheld computer 2610. Components of handheldcomputer 2610 may include, but are not limited to, a processing unit2620, a system memory 2630, and a system bus 2621 that couples varioussystem components including the system memory to the processing unit2620.

Computer 2610 typically includes a variety of computer readable mediaand can be any available media that can be accessed by computer 2610.The system memory 2630 may include computer storage media in the form ofvolatile and/or nonvolatile memory such as read only memory (ROM) and/orrandom access memory (RAM). By way of example, and not limitation,memory 2630 may also include an operating system, application programs,other program modules, and program data.

A user may enter commands and information into the computer 2610 throughinput devices 2640 A monitor or other type of display device is alsoconnected to the system bus 2621 via an interface, such as outputinterface 2650. In addition to a monitor, computers may also includeother peripheral output devices such as speakers and a printer, whichmay be connected through output interface 2650.

The computer 2610 may operate in a networked or distributed environmentusing logical connections to one or more other remote computers, such asremote computer 2670. The remote computer 2670 may be a personalcomputer, a server, a router, a network PC, a peer device or othercommon network node, or any other remote media consumption ortransmission device, and may include any or all of the elementsdescribed above relative to the computer 2610. The logical connectionsdepicted in FIG. 26 include a network 2671, such local area network(LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), but may also include othernetworks/buses. Such networking environments are commonplace in homes,offices, enterprise-wide computer networks, intranets and the Internet.

As mentioned above, while exemplary embodiments have been described inconnection with various computing devices, networks and advertisingarchitectures, the underlying concepts may be applied to any networksystem and any computing device or system in which it is desirable toderive information about surrounding points of interest.

There are multiple ways of implementing one or more of the embodimentsdescribed herein, e.g., an appropriate API, tool kit, driver code,operating system, control, standalone or downloadable software object,etc. which enables applications and services to use the pointing basedservices. Embodiments may be contemplated from the standpoint of an API(or other software object), as well as from a software or hardwareobject that provides pointing platform services in accordance with oneor more of the described embodiments. Various implementations andembodiments described herein may have aspects that are wholly inhardware, partly in hardware and partly in software, as well as insoftware.

The word “exemplary” is used herein to mean serving as an example,instance, or illustration. For the avoidance of doubt, the subjectmatter disclosed herein is not limited by such examples. In addition,any aspect or design described herein as “exemplary” is not necessarilyto be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects ordesigns, nor is it meant to preclude equivalent exemplary structures andtechniques known to those of ordinary skill in the art. Furthermore, tothe extent that the terms “includes,” “has,” “contains,” and othersimilar words are used in either the detailed description or the claims,for the avoidance of doubt, such terms are intended to be inclusive in amanner similar to the term “comprising” as an open transition wordwithout precluding any additional or other elements.

As mentioned, the various techniques described herein may be implementedin connection with hardware or software or, where appropriate, with acombination of both. As used herein, the terms “component,” “system” andthe like are likewise intended to refer to a computer-related entity,either hardware, a combination of hardware and software, software, orsoftware in execution. For example, a component may be, but is notlimited to being, a process running on a processor, a processor, anobject, an executable, a thread of execution, a program, and/or acomputer. By way of illustration, both an application running oncomputer and the computer can be a component. One or more components mayreside within a process and/or thread of execution and a component maybe localized on one computer and/or distributed between two or morecomputers.

The aforementioned systems have been described with respect tointeraction between several components. It can be appreciated that suchsystems and components can include those components or specifiedsub-components, some of the specified components or sub-components,and/or additional components, and according to various permutations andcombinations of the foregoing. Sub-components can also be implemented ascomponents communicatively coupled to other components rather thanincluded within parent components (hierarchical). Additionally, itshould be noted that one or more components may be combined into asingle component providing aggregate functionality or divided intoseveral separate sub-components, and any one or more middle layers, suchas a management layer, may be provided to communicatively couple to suchsub-components in order to provide integrated functionality. Anycomponents described herein may also interact with one or more othercomponents not specifically described herein but generally known bythose of skill in the art.

In view of the exemplary systems described supra, methodologies that maybe implemented in accordance with the disclosed subject matter will bebetter appreciated with reference to the flowcharts of the variousfigures. While for purposes of simplicity of explanation, themethodologies are shown and described as a series of blocks, it is to beunderstood and appreciated that the claimed subject matter is notlimited by the order of the blocks, as some blocks may occur indifferent orders and/or concurrently with other blocks from what isdepicted and described herein. Where non-sequential, or branched, flowis illustrated via flowchart, it can be appreciated that various otherbranches, flow paths, and orders of the blocks, may be implemented whichachieve the same or a similar result. Moreover, not all illustratedblocks may be required to implement the methodologies describedhereinafter.

While the various embodiments have been described in connection with thepreferred embodiments of the various figures, it is to be understoodthat other similar embodiments may be used or modifications andadditions may be made to the described embodiment for performing thesame function without deviating therefrom. Still further, one or moreaspects of the above described embodiments may be implemented in oracross a plurality of processing chips or devices, and storage maysimilarly be effected across a plurality of devices. Therefore, thepresent invention should not be limited to any single embodiment, butrather should be construed in breadth and scope in accordance with theappended claims.

1. A method for a device provisioned for direction based services,comprising: determining direction information associated with at leastone pointed to direction relative to a pre-defined orientation of thedevice; identifying points of interest (POIs) within an area defined asa function of the at least one pointed to direction includingdetermining which of a set of POIs intersect the area; displayinginformation corresponding to the POIs intersecting the area; anddesignating one or more of the POIs intersecting the area for a delayedinteraction at a later time.
 2. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: transmitting at least one identifier associated with thedesignated POIs to a network service enabling information about thedesignated POIs to be exposed at the later time.
 3. The method of claim2, wherein the transmitting includes transmitting the at least oneidentifier associated with the designated POIs to the network serviceenabling information about the designated POIs to be exposed at thelater time according to a different device form factor than a formfactor of the device.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the designatingincludes receiving explicit input with respect to the designated one ormore POIs including receiving at least one of a gesture input, a keywordinput, an audio input, a video camera input or a touchscreen input withrespect to the one or more POIs.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein thedesignating includes receiving implicit input with respect to thedesignated one or more POIs including inferring the delayed interactionat the later time based on a context of present interaction.
 6. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the displaying includes displaying atopographical map view visually representing at least the area definedas a function of the at least one pointed to direction and displayinggraphical indications of the POIs within the area at generallycorresponding locations on the topographical map view.
 7. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the displaying information includes displayinginformation about the POIs in a filtered list view.
 8. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the designating includes designating at least onepre-defined criterion explicitly or implicitly defining the delay of thedelayed interaction to the later time.
 9. The method of claim 1, whereinthe designating includes marking the one or more POIs includingreceiving touchscreen input relating to the one or more designated POIs.10. The method of claim 1, wherein the designating includes tagging theone or more POIs with tag information defining the delayed interaction.11. A portable electronic device, comprising: a positional component forreceiving position information as a function of a location of theportable electronic device; a directional component that outputsdirection information as a function of an orientation of the portableelectronic device; and at least one processor configured to process theposition information and the direction information to determine at leastone identifier of at least one point of interest within a pre-definedgeographical scope of the device, to interact with a selected identifierof the at least one identifier, to receive information about the pointof interest corresponding to the selected identifier, and to receiveinput regarding the selected identifier that defines a futureinteraction with the point of interest corresponding to the selectedidentifier.
 12. The device of claim 11, wherein the at least oneprocessor is further configured to transmit information about theselected identifier defining the future interaction with the point ofinterest to at least one network service.
 13. The device of claim 11,further comprising: a pointer that visually indicates the orientation ofthe portable electronic device based upon which the directionalcomponent outputs the direction information.
 14. The device of claim 11,further comprising: at least one audio device for rendering audiocontent if a condition upon which the future interaction is predicatedoccurs.
 15. The device of claim 11, wherein the directional component isa digital compass that outputs the direction information.
 16. The methodof claim 11, wherein the at least one processor is configured to processthe position information and the direction information to determine apointing line and to determine a set of candidate points of interest asa subset of points of interest that substantially intersect with afunction based on the pointing line.
 17. The method of claim 16, whereinthe at least one processor is configured to process the positioninformation and the direction information to determine a pointing lineand to determine a set of candidate points of interest as a subset ofpoints of interest that substantially intersect with at least one of anarc function defining an arc based on an angle with respect to thepointing line, a conical function defining a cone based on an angle withrespect to the pointing line, or a line function defining a rectangularspace oriented along the pointing line.
 18. A method, comprising:determining a place in which a portable device is located based onlocation information determined for the device, the location informationrepresenting a position of the device; identifying a subset of items ofinterest in the place including determining an orientation of the devicebased on direction information of the device and determining the subsetof items of interest in the place as a function of the orientation; andreceiving input with respect to an item of the subset of items includingreceiving input defining a delayed interaction with the item or defininga delayed interaction with the place.
 19. The method of claim 18,wherein the receiving includes receiving a request for a notificationwhen a characteristic of the item meets a pre-defined condition.
 20. Themethod of claim 19, wherein the receiving includes receiving a requestfor a notification when a price of the item meets a target pricecondition thereby initiating the delayed interaction.
 21. The method ofclaim 18, wherein the receiving input with respect to the item includesreceiving scan input from scanning or imaging a bar code associated withthe item of interest.